Sun203195 viewsSun taken 20th of March 2019 35x2000th sec, there was a lot of high cloud.GBMar 20, 2019

Leo Triplet19 viewsThe Leo Triplet includes NGC 3628, Hamburger galaxy. About 35 mly distant. The light reaching my camera started out soon after the demise of the dinosaurs.
Just over four hours exposure using a UHC clip filter on a EOS 200D camera on a skywatcher 200p reflector.
Bill CMar 15, 2019

Palomar 1 & Palomar 228 viewsTwo very different globular clusters. Pal 1 has a very young age - around 4-6 billion years – and is much dispersed with extended tails. Pal 2 is a remote cluster and we view it through the plane of the Milky Way so is heavily reddened. It actually does look like a globular so must be relatively large given its huge distance. David R.Mar 10, 2019

Kemble's Cascade 27 viewsKemble's Cascade in Camelopardalis near Cassiopeia,Taken on the 26th of February and no filter GB Mar 07, 2019

Sun2721930 viewsTaken on the 27th of February 2019 GBMar 03, 2019

Comet Iwamoto37 viewsA rarity these days – a comet discovered by a human being! Its closest approach to Earth on 12th Feb but I caught it 13 days later by which time it was fading. Still there is the suspicion of a tail on the comet's left (east) side. If you missed it this time it will return in 3390 AD. David R.Mar 03, 2019

M 74 Phantom Galaxy44 viewsA face on galaxy located in Pisces about 30 m LY distant. 'Phantom' is an appropriate name for me as it was hard to process. Done mostly in IRIS and Photoshop using Denoise on Davids recommendation.
Bill CFeb 14, 2019

Mirach's Goblin46 viewsMirach doesn’t only have a ghost but a goblin too. This very very faint dwarf galaxy was recently discovered by an Italian amateur and details were published in 2018. It is located about 1 degree south of Mirach and is more properly known as Donatiello 1 after its discoverer. The two galaxies – Ghost & Goblin are probably associated. DR.Feb 13, 2019

Hyades46 viewsTaken on the 27th of January 10x120secs and no filter GB Feb 13, 2019

Mirach's Ghost62 viewsNo not a reflection but a real galaxy, NGC 404, lying very close to Mirach (Beta Andromedae). A relatively nearby galaxy at 10 million light years and has an active black hole at its centre. It is the closest known LINER type galaxy. DR.Feb 01, 2019

M3552 viewsTaken 27th of January 10x120secs and no filter GBJan 31, 2019

Supernova 2019np in NGC 325452 viewsDiscovered by Koichi Itagaki on 9th Jan 2019 in the spiral galaxy NGC 3254 in Leo Minor. It is a classic type Ia. It appears to be located at the end of a spiral arm making it easy to spot. NGC 3254 is estimated to be around 100 million light years away. DRJan 30, 2019

57 viewsM52 is an open cluster in Cassiopeia. Processed in IRIS using the simple instruction David gave at last evening's meeting. Bill CJan 23, 2019

NGC 7635-Bubble Nebula61 viewsNGC 7635 is an emission nebula in Cassiopeia. The bubble is 7 light years across. 4 hours UHC & 4-3/4 hours Ha Taken on my usual setup. Skywatcher 200P scope and the EQ6 mount has been modified to solve the problem with the declination bolts locking
BillCJan 22, 2019

Orion wide field69 viewsTaken round the back at Ladybridge during the Workshop on January 8th 2019.
4 x 30s ISO 6400 shots at 100mm with a modified and cooled Canon 60d on a roughly aligned SkyWatcher Star Adventurer.
No darks or flats.Jan 13, 2019

Messier 3474 viewsIn cluster research, M34 is an important cluster with an age of 250 million years which places it between the Pleiades at 100 million years and the Hyades at 800 million years. Despite its relatively young age it has 19 known white dwarf stars - giant stars that are reaching their end of their lives having already exhausted their hydrogen fuel. David RJan 11, 2019

Clusters of Cassiopeia75 viewsCassiopeia is full of open clusters. In this image the prominent cluster is NGC 663 and is the one you notice first if sweeping the area with binoculars. It stands out much more than M103 and many suspect that it is actually Messier's number 103. Cluster IC166 is very reddened by absorption. David R.Jan 01, 2019

Supernova in M77106 views47 million years ago in a galaxy far far away a star exploded. Its light has just reached Lancashire! It is close to the galaxy's centre so not easy to spot and the weather only allowed a few hazy shots last night. Inset is of my previous image of 10 years ago. David R.Dec 15, 2018

NGC89198 viewsAn edge on spiral galaxy similar in size to the Milky Way but 30 million LY distant in Andromeda constellation. Five & half hours with a UHC clip filter fitted. The 8" reflector is on a pier mounted EQ6 Pro.
Bill CDec 08, 2018

Globular Cluster M1590 viewsOne of the brightest globular clusters in the northern sky and home to around 100,000 stars. It is one of the most densely packed globulars in the Milky Way galaxy and is classed as 'core collapsed'. Whether it has a black hole at its centre is subject to much speculation but even images taken with the Hubble were unable to resolve its dense core and solve the problem. David R.Dec 06, 2018

Planetary Nebula NGC 709483 viewsSome planetary nebular shapes are so "messy" - as is the case with NGC 7094 - that perhaps triple or even multiple stars systems must be involved. In a recent paper, Bear & Soker, placed NGC 7094 in the category "Maybe shaped by a triple stellar progenitor". It is certainly an odd one. David R.Nov 28, 2018

Pegasus Dwarf Irregular Galaxy92 viewsThis dwarf galaxy is part of the local group and is a distant satellite of M31. Recently Hubble images have confirmed the presence of a substantial globular cluster (DDO216-A1) near the centre of the galaxy. It is 3mly away whereas the tiny edge-on galaxy is way in the background at around 900mly. David R.Nov 20, 2018

IC 1396 Elephants trunk nebula121 viewsPart of an emission nebula in Cepheus. Taken on a pier mounted EQ6 Pro mount and guided with a Gerald Bramall made off axis guider. Essential for the long exposures.
Bill CNov 16, 2018

Escaping the Void101 viewsAlfaZoa is the galaxy that my talk finished with on Tuesday. It is one of only 2 attested galaxies within the Local Void and it is escaping fast. It was discovered with the Arecibo Radio Telescope. David R.Nov 08, 2018

IC1396-Elephants Trunk Nebula143 viewsThis is the red channel Using a Ha 6nm filter. eight & half hours giving me all the info I need before combining it with 4 hours UHC filter on 28th & 29th to get the star colours. (note the triple star on the left.) Bill COct 31, 2018

NGC 457118 viewsFirst attempt as using my modified Canon 600D, Stacked with DSS, Processed with GIMP. Seem to have a very large number of hot pixels following the Astro Modification. Bill BonesOct 23, 2018

Messier 29125 viewsSomewhat ignored Messier object which does look a bit like a small Pleiades. All is not what it seems though with 2 of the seven brightest stars not being cluster members. The blue one is a background giant and the "handle" star (top left) is a foreground object. Age 5 million years. David R.Oct 14, 2018

Blazar - BL Lacertae143 viewsIt took many years for astronomers to work out what this object was - it has a featureless spectrum. We now know it is a Blazar - a quasar where the jet from its central black hole is pointing straight at us. Its distance is around 900 million light years. David R.Oct 03, 2018

158 viewsSun Taken at Kelling heath.Sep 18, 2018

Lifting the Veil139 viewsKelling Heath 2018. Just managed to get 45 60s between the clouds. Ross Wilkinson did his magic on the Tiff to produce this image.Sep 14, 2018

Saturn & Mars - 31 August 2018148 viewsCivilised time for imaging but boy are they low. Mars is large this year being close to the Sun and they are both are at the same scale here - I didn't even re-focus. South polar cap is visible on Mars and despite the dust storms some surface markings are visible too. There also seems to be a haze over its north pole. David R.Sep 01, 2018

Jupiter 7th June 2018283 viewsAnother warm evening so another image of Jupiter - this time I was just in time to catch the red spot. Note title should read 7th June not May - sorry. David RJun 08, 2018

Jupiter 6th June 2018182 viewsTime to dust off the old Celestron C8 SCT and try to image Jupiter. Never going to be wonderful at only 20 degrees elevation - but a nice way to spend a warm evening. David R.Jun 07, 2018